Nathaniel's Revelation
by Fiona Fargazer
Summary: Based on the deleted scene from the movie by the same title


"_Hello worthless, miss me?"_

Worthless!

Yes, worthless...

Nathaniel would have been angry if it weren't for the fact that it was entirely true and for the fact that when she spoke it had taken him several minutes to even fully comprehend what she had said. He was . . . worthless, completely and utterly so.

The voice on the phone could still be heard inquiring about where the caller had gone to. "Hello? Hello? Mr. N?" Narissa smiled at Nathaniel as she brought the phone to her lips.

"Mr. N is a little busy right now," she said, "you'll have to finish your little chat later, 'kay?" Putting the phone down, she placed her full attention upon Nathaniel. "Come on, don't just sit there," she told him, still in an exceptionally good mood. She even opened the door for him so that he could step out onto the walkway, though he felt almost as if he were going collapse underneath her as he climbed out – fall flat onto the street like the human doormat he was. He had been in such a state of shock when he had first heard the words, especially when coming from Queen Narissa herself, that at first he had been barely able to think clearly enough to follow her to the street fountain.

Nathaniel knew he should not have been as surprised as he was, but he was very surprised, utterly surprised . . . at least outwardly.

He stumbled clumsily to his feet following after Narissa as one in a fog. He watched her stir up the fountain with her magic to find out the location of Giselle, the girl that they so desperately wanted to get rid of – or rather _the queen _wanted to get rid of. He watched dumbfounded, though he had seen her do magic many times over, but for the first time he felt the dark aura emanating from her person. Her gleeful and maniacal hatred was more apparent than he had ever noticed before. He felt cold, almost naked standing in the dark street behind her. He was only glad she was not looking at him as stood feeling so vulnerable and lost, but he should have seen this coming. He knew that he should have been expecting this.

Maybe it was the whole thing with the murdering of an innocent girl, maybe it was simply this strange new world they had traveled to, but Nathaniel had this uneasy growing feeling in the back of his mind, ever since he had gotten over the initial shock at the extreme change in worlds. It had started out slowly, just as a trickling chill like a tiny insect crawling up his back and then finally finding its way beneath his shirt collar. He now recalled the words of the dark queen: "I'm going to make absolutely certain of it . . ." He was sure it had started with that. Nothing too big, something he would have brushed aside easily if he had been at home. It was not the first time he done something that was against his conscious in the service of the queen. Loyalty had always come first above all.

And of course it was quickly forgotten (at least temporarily) when the queen gave the words: "If there's ever going to be a happily ever after for us . . ." LIES! All of it. Nathaniel knew that now. The very idea of he and the queen would ever have a future together was almost laughable, but at the time he had eaten it up like a love-sick puppy.

After all that was what he had wanted her to say for years – from the day she had set foot in the castle. He had been barely out of his adolescence then, nothing more than a lad. He had not even heard her speak, unconscious as she was, when the other servants had pulled her in out of the storm that fateful night. Even now Nathaniel could recall the moment as if it were happening before his very eyes. He could see right now in front of him that slightly knowing smile that had trickled across her lips as she lay there on the sofa with him watching her in the gloom – the other servants all busily taking care of her. Surely that smile had been meant for him. He had wanted to take her away and marry her right then and he would have if he had been able to, though at the time and at that stage in his life he wouldn't allow such outrageous thoughts to linger in his head for long.

Narissa now turned sharply to Nathaniel from the fountain, making him squirm. He felt slightly ill as her sharp, reptilian eyes penetrated his body. She was still angry with him for failing her; he could feel it more than see it, though her cold glare was even more frightening in this world than it had ever been in Andalasia. He was not sure if it was because of what he was now realizing about her or if it was simply the way this world affected her features, making them sharper, darker, more intense.

"C'mon, idiot," Narissa grumbled, but her glare was soon to be replaced by a wicked sneer. "We have a party to crash." She stepped roughly and closely passed him so that the edges of her clothing whipped against his shirt.

There was little else to do, but obey her command. It was not as if Nathaniel had much of a choice in the matter. Rather reluctantly he followed her, his head low as he pulled the queer turban, which was part of his last disguise, further onto his head, but it did little to ease his tension. He was like a "bad dog" with his tail between his legs, ashamed of displeasing his mistress, and unsure of what to do next, save not to displease her more.

Respectfully he opened the car door for the queen to enter; she shoved him aside almost causing him to loose his balance, but he quickly grabbed onto the car door just as she had seated herself inside.

"Get in, quit wasting time, Nathaniel," she barked impatiently.

"A-Are you certain you know how to drive it, my Lady?" asked Nathaniel, his voice cracked and his mouth dry. He cleared his throat and swallowed hard.

Narissa rolled her eyes. "Shut up. I'm not going to drive it, I'm sending it there. Now get in or I'll leave you behind!"

Nathaniel nodded readily and running around the side of the car climbed in through the door to the driver's seat just as Narissa was using her magic on the machine and ordering it to take them to the party where Giselle would be – the unsuspecting innocent. Nathaniel gazed gloomily out the window and the car started off down the road. He could hear the screaming and ranting of the chipmunk in its little hamster ball (which Nathaniel had found for it after tossing the hamster into another animal cage at that odd little animal store), but he had no intention of paying it any mind. It was because of that galling little rodent that he was in this mess! It was his fault that none of Nathaniel's attempts at pleasing the queen had worked. It was the chipmunk's fault Prince Edward had chased after the girl in the first place, it was the chipmunk's fault that Nathaniel had to waste most of his precious time keeping it from bringing the prince and the girl back together and it took all of Nathaniel's wits to keep it from telling the prince the entire plan (thankfully the prince had been too naive to think anything badly of Nathaniel so all attempts had been futile for the creature in that respect – but still!). Well it was certainly the chipmunk's fault that the second apple wasn't slipped down the girl's throat. The whole mess would be over by now if it hadn't been for that miserable thing, and how it had survived that blazing furnace, Nathaniel would never figure out. Maybe the whole world was against him!

_Well, no_, he thought, _that's getting a little too far, isn't it?_

Nathaniel paused, looking up for a moment to see the creature's beady little eyes aimed in a death-glare directly at him, and shaking its tiny fist in wrath. At this Nathaniel only muttered something unintelligible even to himself after giving the creature a death glare of his own, and then returned to the window.

If it hadn't been for that filthy little thing . . .

Nathaniel sighed bleakly, and slumped down in his seat leaning his head on his arm as it rested on the bewitched steering wheel.

"Don't be so upset," said Narissa suddenly. "It's not a total loss, you being an idiot. Now I'll be here to witness my own triumph, though I suppose there will have to be a little um . . ." her lips pursed for a second, "discipline for you later, but it's nothing to get all gloomy about. Soon enough we'll have what we always wanted – _my_ happily ever after."

At the last phrase, Nathaniel snapped his head up sharply as if she had just suddenly jabbed him in the side with a stick.

_Happily Ever After . . ._

_It had been dark as it always was in the throne room after Edward's father had passed away. In the gloom the lofty ceilings seemed to reach on forever into an eternal abyss of inky blackness. Long sinister shadows crept across the floor and along the walls, making one feel as though he were being watched and about to get pounced upon from behind._

_Nathaniel had never liked going in the throne room, save for the fact that Queen Narissa was always at the end of it, and as long as he didn't have to look at the rest of the room he felt better about it. However this particular time Nathaniel was not thinking about gloom or the pleasing sight of his mistress. He was exasperated._

"_But, my Lady," he protested piteously. "I know nothing of children!"_

"_He's too old for his nurse to keep him in line," Narissa had replied. "And besides you're the only one I trust with this job."_

_Nathaniel had to smile at that, even in his uncomfortable state. He straightened himself proudly and nodded. "Oh, well, thank you, your majesty," he said with a gracious bow, "but . . . I'm afraid I still don't quite understand. What are you afraid of Prince Edward doing? He's never been much trouble."_

_Narissa sighed a bit impatiently. "Oh, Nathaniel, Nathaniel," she said, "It's not that I don't trust him. It's just someone needs to keep him from getting himself in trouble with a girl. I've explained this to you already: if I'm to keep my throne, Edward is to remain unmarried."_

"_But it's only natural to happen sooner or later, especially in Andalasia," Nathaniel replied, still not really getting it._

"_Not if I can help it," said Narissa._

_Here Nathaniel paused, unsure of how to take that last statement. It was hard to tell by the tone of her voice, whether she was pleased, hurt, or angry – perhaps even a mixture of all three. "My Lady?" he asked softly._

_The dark queen smiled and rose from her throne, as she often did when she wanted to tell Nathaniel something important. "I've told you many times that besides being a loyal servant you are a very good friend to me . . ."_

"_Yes, my Lady, always!"_

"_Yes, well, some people in Andalasia have Happily Ever Afters delivered to them with a silver spoon from the moment they enter the word – the beautiful people, Nathaniel – the perfect ones."_

"You're _beautiful, my good queen," Nathaniel said earnestly, "very much so."_

"_Nevertheless, people like me . . ." she paused and looked at Nathaniel with a strange sort of smile, "and people like _you _ . . . while the perfect ones have Happily Ever Afters fall into their laps, we must strive to make our _own _Happily Ever Afters . . ."_

"Our own Happily Ever Afters . . ." Nathaniel muttered rather mistily. He looked up at Queen Narissa as she addressed him a second time, his eyes blinking slowly as one not quite awakened from a deep slumber.

"Nathaniel, are you listening to me?" Narissa demanded.

"Yes, my Lady," Nathaniel assured her. "Soon you'll never have to worry about Prince Edward again."

"That's right!" she exclaimed as the car suddenly came to an abrupt halt, "and I want you to wait here," she said as if she were speaking to some donkey or a very slow dog. "I don't want you to mess anything else up. I'll be back soon!"

"Yes, my Lady," replied Nathaniel in the same exact tone as before. After a pause he asked: "Would you like me to get the door?"

An irritated flicker in the queen's eye was the only response Nathaniel received from his mistress. She yanked roughly on the handle of the door and without looking back she stepped out into the night air with a stiff and haughty look about her. There was hardly a pause as she slammed the door behind her and made her way casually across the street as if she were merely going to supper rather than going to kill an innocent girl and ruin the young prince's happiness – not to mention what other damage she may have in store for anyone else that might get in her way, such as the other young man that Giselle had been staying with all this time.

Nathaniel's eyes did not waver from Queen Narissa's form until she disappeared behind the glass doors where the ball was being held. He let out a deflated sigh and slumped into his seat miserably. Deep in his own thoughts.

However he had not been sitting like that for long when he heard the chipmunk screaming again from where it had rolled onto the floor in its little ball. For a few minutes Nathaniel had actually forgotten about it, and as he looked down at the furry little creature trying in vain to force himself against the door on the passenger side, Nathaniel could only shake his head. "Stupid, thing," he muttered to himself, adjusting the turban on his head again –why was it that he was wearing it now?

The chipmunk had heard this remark and turning around, crossed its arms over its chest and glared. The little squeaks that came forth from its mouth could be recognized as the words: _Huh! Stupid!? And what are you?_ Or at least it was something along those lines – it was rather hard to tell unless one was listening very closely.

Nathaniel glowered at the chipmunk and snatched the ball in his hands so that he and the creature were at eye level and only inches away from one another. The chipmunk made it quite clear that if there had not been a clear slippery wall between them that Nathaniel would no long have been able to see through his "squinty, villainous" eyes.

"You just behave yourself!" Nathaniel scolded, shaking his finger sharply. "I've better things to worry about right now than your incessant screeching!"

The chipmunk rolled its eyes with a rather doubtful look. _Oh, really?_ He seemed to say. He spun around once or twice making some more unintelligible squeaks, and then he stood again on his hind legs, and began to hold himself in a haughty air. His features went tight and sharp and he began to smile slyly. His squeaked in a tone that was probably meant to be seductive, but the creature failed miserably in that respect; however Nathaniel did recognize the phrase that escaped the gerbil-like voice: "If there's ever going to be a happily ever after for us . . ." Then with another lightening-speed twirl around the hamster ball, the chipmunk began his imitation of Nathaniel, which was quickly recognized by the lackey. The chipmunk ogled goofily and stuck out his tongue as if he were about to drool. Then returning it its normal state, the chipmunk crossed its arms over its chest and let out a sarcastic little: "Uh, huh."

Nathaniel lifted the ball above his head and made ready to smash it into the dash board, but just before he slammed the ball forward he paused. Releasing a deep and heavy sigh, he resumed his slumping-position in the chair, leaning his arms over the ball which sat in his lap, for a few moments in which neither he nor the chipmunk said anything at all. Then very slowly he sat up straight in his seat again.

"Happily Ever After . . ." he murmured in a very defeated tone of voice.

The chipmunk by this time seemed to have lost interest in Nathaniel and was simply looking longingly out the window towards the glass doors where Narissa had disappeared. There was another short pause before which Nathaniel clutched the ball in his hands again and slowly, almost dazedly, brought it back up towards him.

"Oh," he sighed, not totally certain if he was speaking to himself or the chipmunk, but he was staring out the front window at some unknown object on the street corner, though not really caring what it was. "I don't know, I-" Here the chipmunk turned slightly, cocking his head in Nathaniel's direction, but Nathaniel continued on only half noticing the chipmunk's curious gaze. "I mean she talks about us having a future," Nathaniel said, "but all she really seems to care about is this nasty apple business and I-"

The chipmunk began chirping away in a very speedy and unintelligible manner, but it was enough to break Nathaniel's thoughts enough for a realization to suddenly dawn on him.

"I'm helping her!"

The chipmunk could only agree, and he held out his paws as if to ask how Nathaniel could have just figured that out now.

"I mean what does that say about me?" he demanded, staring into the hamster ball.

At this the chipmunk became very animated and scurrying about in its ball it began squeaking and ranting again a very speedy hardly intelligible manner, but Nathaniel was sure he understood him as the little creature pointed towards him and then at the building with the glass doors, and of course with knowing the chipmunk's agenda in wanting to have his friend rescued from death it was not hard to figure out the gist of what it trying to get though to Nathaniel.

He looked out the window at the glass doors of the building. Just beyond lay the ball in which Narissa would soon have Giselle dead. He looked at the bright green numbers inside the car in which held the time. It was not yet midnight. "You're right!" Nathaniel exclaimed turning back to the chipmunk. "You're absolutely right!"

Quickly he placed the ball onto the passenger's seat and taking off his turban he placed that behind the ball. The chipmunk was still ranting, but Nathaniel paid little heed, but instead thanked the chipmunk for listening. Thus grabbing his coat Nathaniel flung open the car door and hurried across the street careful to not get hit by any other car which was zooming by. The last thought that came to his mind before opening the great glass doors was the words of Narissa: "We must strive to make our own Happily Ever Afters". However the words held a totally different meaning in his mind than they did even just moments ago. As Nathaniel disappeared behind the doors, he uncovered the truth about himself and everyone else, and that was in order to do what one felt was truly right one had to believe they had the power within them to make their own "Happily Ever Afters" come true. He had known all along that killing the girl was wrong. He had known all along that he should not have gone along with Narissa's plan, but until that moment it did not occur to Nathaniel he had the power and with the power the solemn duty to himself as a human being over his own destiny. Thus Nathaniel's revelation was complete.


End file.
